For over a decade, Sudan fuelled the rise of China and India’s national oil companies. But the political turmoil surrounding the historic division of Africa’s largest country, with the birth of South Sudan, challenged Asia’s oil giants to chart a new course. The outbreak of conflict in South Sudan last December only deepened the instability and insecurity and sent Chinese and Indian diplomats scrambling to reinvigorate their foreign policies to protect their interests and bring an end to the conflict.

The lecture will discuss the overseas investments of Chinese and Indian national oil companies, their close ties with their respective governments in Beijing and New Delhi, and experiences with political and security risks in Sudan and South Sudan. It draws from Luke Patey’s recent book The New Kings of Crude: China, India, and the Global Struggle for Oil in Sudan and South Sudan. Beyond examining the economic and political impact of Chinese and Indian engagement in Sudan and South Sudan, the book argues that the two Sudans are examples of how Africa is shaping the rise of China and India as world powers.

Luke Patey is a senior researcher at the Dan­ish Insti­tute for Inter­na­tional Studies. His work focuses on the polit­i­cal econ­omy of oil in Sudan and South Sudan, the role of China and India in Africa, and the global invest­ments of Chi­nese and Indian national oil companies. He has written for the Finan­cial Times, The Guardian, The Hindu, and VICE News. He has been a Vis­it­ing Scholar at Peking Uni­ver­sity (Bei­jing), the Social Sci­ence Research Coun­cil (New York), and the Cen­tre d’études et de recherches inter­na­tionales (Paris).